An historic land with a wealthy and vibrant tradition, Scotland is thought for its excellent landscapes, stunning individuals, and storied previous with a penchant for the darkish and disturbing. It’s additionally the nation that was dwelling to the notorious grave robbers Burke and Hare, which has consequently made vacationer sights out of the creepy criminals. Scotland positively has a twisted historical past that’s stuffed with mysteries.
From unsolved murders to mysterious disappearances to serial killers who’ve by no means been caught, Scotland is a rustic that’s stuffed with darkish twists and turns. Let’s dive in and discover out extra—when you dare!
Associated: 10 Unusual Paranormal Tales From Scotland
10 The Thriller Hangman of Dundee
You need to have a definite type of morbid curiosity to wish to be a hangman, however within the nineteenth century, hangings have been all the fad in Scotland, however not within the metropolis of Dundee. Following the Jacobite rebellions and the mass executions, nobody in Dundee wished to carry the submit of hangman. Comprehensible, proper?
So from 1745 till 1835, Dundee didn’t have a hangman. That modified with the arrival of a difficult gang known as the Black Band, who have been terrorizing the town. Finally, one of many gang members, Mark Devlin, was captured and subsequently sentenced to dying by hanging. The issue was that they wanted the hangman to come back all the way in which from Edinburgh.
With simply hours to go and no signal of the skilled hangman, the town determined to ask the locals for volunteers. One such man agreed, however underneath the proviso that he may put on a masks to hide his id. To today, nobody is aware of who hung Mark Devlin, however we all know it was a morbid Dundee native who knew how a lot being a hangman would have an effect on his repute.[1]
9 The Madeleine Smith Case
As historical past has repeatedly advised us, forward-thinking and caring ladies are sometimes handled horrifically. An aristocrat’s daughter, Madeleine Smith, determined to comply with her coronary heart and have an affair with an apprentice nurseryman named Pierre Emile L’Angelier. Oh, to be 20 once more.
Clearly, her dad and mom weren’t thrilled in regards to the match. As an alternative, they set Madeleine up with a rich suitor. When she tried to interrupt issues off with L’Angelier, he threatened to publish a few of the 250 letters she’d written to him and go to the press. Together with her household’s repute, that was clearly not an choice.
Following this, L’Angelier curiously and mysteriously died of arsenic poisoning. The police clearly discovered the letters and noticed that Madeleine had just lately purchased arsenic and put two and two collectively. Lower to a scathing and in style trial that questioned a lady’s ethical integrity greater than it seemed for proof of a homicide. Consequently, there was not sufficient proof to convict, however the harm was completed, and Madeleine needed to relocate to London. It’s robust being a lady![2]
8 The Homicide of Marion Gilchrist
Prejudice is rife all through historical past, and Scotland is not any exception. After a widely known spinster named Marion Gilchrist was bludgeoned to dying with a hammer by a house invader in 1909, there was an enormous miscarriage of justice with a Jewish immigrant, Oscar Slater, being convicted.
As a neighbor interrupted the housebreaking, the killer solely received away with a brooch. Later, Slater pawned a brooch and had a ticket to New York, and this was all of the proof that the biased judicial system wanted on the time. He was purported to be sentenced to dying, which was later commuted to a life sentence.
There was an enormous uproar in regards to the case, with well-known novelist Arthur Conan Doyle publishing a pamphlet in regards to the lack of proof. Slater was launched virtually 20 years later and given £6,000 in compensation. The creepiest half? The actual assassin was by no means discovered.[3]
7 Who Killed the Crimson Fox?
In one other case of miscarried justice, the id of the killer of the Crimson Fox, really named Colin Campbell of Glenure, has remained a thriller for hundreds of years. To be frank, Campbell was not in style. The entire clan was assumed to be doing the bidding of the English and have been tax enforcers for different clans.
It was rumored that on the day of his dying, Colin was about to kick a number of Stewart households off their land and substitute them together with his Campbell brethren. Nonetheless, he was shot and killed earlier than that might occur. Inside two days, the chief of the Stewart clan, James of the Glen, was arrested and tried for homicide.
In what was essentially the most biased jury of all time—predominantly made up of Campbell members of the family and presided by the chief of the clan—inevitably, James of the Glen was executed. Nonetheless, it was clear that he was not the assassin. To today, though it’s been rumored that it was the work of youthful Stewart clan members, nothing has been verified.[4]
6 The Mrs. MacRae Thriller
Quick forwarding by Scottish historical past to 1976, we’ve got the Mrs. MacRae thriller. Because the longest-running lacking particular person’s case in Britain, it’s been an enormous query mark for nearly 50 years.
On her approach to see her sister in Inverness, Mrs. MacRae and her son, Andrew, seemingly crashed their automobile. This has by no means been confirmed because the case however assumed by a passing bus driver who noticed the automobile on fireplace. The weird and spooky factor? There’s been no signal of Andrew or Mrs. MacRae ever since—useless or alive!
William McDowell, Mrs/McRae’s alleged married lover, has lengthy denied any involvement within the disappearance. He was finally arrested for the homicide of the mom and son in 2019; his trial was held in 2022. He was discovered responsible, though the protection argues that there was no proof of a homicide and that his shopper was not responsible.[5]
5 The Fairy Coffins
What’s creepier than a stack of hidden tiny coffins within the hillside? Add within the thriller of not figuring out who did it, why they’re there, or what they characterize, and also you begin to get the spooky vibes related to Edinburgh’s Fairy Coffins.
In 1836, a number of boys have been exploring the well-known Arthur’s Seat hill in Edinburgh once they discovered 17 tiny coffins with little wood figures in them hidden behind some slate. Though there wasn’t a ton of curiosity initially—in reality, they solely offered the lot of them for £4—they’ve now been offered onto the Nationwide Museum of Scotland, the place the conspiracies and mysteries are alive and nicely. Was it for witchcraft? Was it a ritual? Was it a message to do with Burke and Hare? Who is aware of.[6]
4 Bible John
This listing wouldn’t be full with out a serial killer, and Bible John turned legendary in Glasgow within the Nineteen Sixties. Stalking across the in style Barrowland Membership, Bible John took to raping and strangling ladies with their very own tights.
The place did the identify come from? Properly, some witnesses claimed that he learn bible passages, particularly from the Outdated Testomony, to his victims as he attacked them. Creepier nonetheless is the very fact the id of Bible John continues to be a thriller, and justice has not but been served. [7]
3 The Misplaced ninth Legion
It’s no secret that there’s a lengthy and bloody historical past of battle in Scotland, particularly towards England. In round AD 100–190, when the Roman Empire took over what was then referred to as Britannia, the emperor Augustus sought to additionally take management of Caledonia to the North––which was basically what we now know as Scotland.
To finish this formidable job, he despatched the Ninth Legion to Caledonia to battle the clans. The Ninth Legion had been profitable all throughout the empire, so confidence was excessive. Nonetheless, the complete legion seemingly disappeared from all information. Being 2000 years in the past, this may appear unsurprising, however the Romans have been meticulous in retaining monitor of their navy items.
The belief is that they have been annihilated in such an embarrassing show that nobody wished to commit it to the historical past ebook. It’s additionally rumored to be the gas behind constructing Hadrian’s Wall.[8]
2 The Flannan Isles Lighthouse’s Lacking Keepers
To paraphrase Oscar Wilde, to lose one lighthouse keeper could also be thought to be a misfortune; to lose each appears to be like like carelessness. The Flannan Isles really ended up shedding three, for which Wilde had no response. This behavior of lacking lighthouse keepers has develop into a spooky legend all through Scotland.
Within the 1900s, all three lighthouse keepers who labored on a rotation system disappeared with out a hint. A fourth lighthouse keeper was set to hitch them and was crusing throughout on the Hesperus. On nearer inspection, they might see that no preparations had been completed—that being the primary job of a lighthouse keeper. Upon arrival, not one of the three males might be discovered wherever on the island and have by no means been seen since.[9]
1 The Aberdeen Harbor Arm
A washed-up limb, a lacking teenager, and an enormous thriller to unravel. It seems like the beginning of a Scandi-noir drama, however it was really the real-life story of Elizabeth “Betty” Hadden from Aberdeen in 1945. After listening to a bloodcurdling scream on December 12, an arm was present in Aberdeen Harbor.
They deduced it was Betty’s arm and had been sawed off with a knife, however the assassin nonetheless stays a thriller. The leads have been so chilly that they received native ladies to volunteer to scream in numerous areas of the town to work out the place the assault could have occurred. Alas, Betty’s stays have been by no means discovered, and her killer was by no means dropped at justice.[10]
